Internal EU politics

Germany’s social-democratic party has endorsed the EU Canadian trade agreement CETA at a party convention on Monday (19 September). This move increases the chances that the treaty will be ratified by Germany, but does not give Brussels and Ottawa a blank cheque. The approval came after SPD …

He is Catholic, he is German, and his family name is Marx. You’d think he is against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership currently under negotiation between the EU and the United States. But in fact he approves of TTIP. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishop’s Conference, and also …

Commission president Juncker called on the EU to ratify CETA, the trade agreement with Canada concluded in February, and urged member states to accept reforms to the EU’s antidumping laws. “One billion more worth of exports creates fourteen thousand extra jobs in Europe”, Juncker said. “This is in …

Origin of the graph: Matthias Bauer, ECIPE. Has Germany’s public debate on TTIP been hijacked by two minority political parties? At least some evidence is now emerging that the discussion on the transatlantic treaty has been distorted by a highly active network of ‘civil society’ groups gravitating around the …

By Doru Frantescu Which members of the European Parliament – MEPs – are the most in favour of free trade and which, to the contrary, are the most opposed to it? Not necessarily those you might think, our latest VoteWatch Europe study shows.

CETA currently stands good chances of adoption in the expected forthcoming national ratification process in Germany. Germany’s political parties are preparing to grapple with the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement – CETA – with Canada. The junior coalition governing party SPD is bracing for a showdown on CETA as its leadership …

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the Commission intended to continue negotiating the transatlantic trade agreement TTIP despite calls from some EU member states to halt the talks. Washington and some capitals in the EU hope to finalise the three year old talks by the end of the year. …

The media is all abuzz about Sigmar Gabriel’s statement made during a conversation with the press over the week-end that “TTIP has failed”, not least because of US demands which the EU cannot accept. How credible is that statement? Is TTIP “dead”? No, Sigmar Gabriel is simply doing domestic politics, …

The scale of the German population’s negative views of TTIP has surprised many. A recent survey by the Cologne-based economic think tank Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft has explored the following puzzle: Germans are as a general rules pro-free trade, but are sceptical of TTIP. How come? IW Köln’s economist Galina …

The Commission’s intentions to declare CETA an EU-only agreement, loudly announced last week by President Jean-Claude Juncker, have backfired. Amidst a pushback from powerful member states, including France and Germany, the Commission has decided to declare CETA “mixed” and prioritised its coming into force provisionally as early as possible. …